133 Up the ante

"I understand what you are saying and I am truly sorry for what happened with you. But it was never my intention to hurt you or anyone else. I was stuck in my own miserable world for so long that I was clueless to everyone around me," Tang called out his attention towards himself with these remorseful words.

Jia Li started to inch towards the phone without making a sound the second she saw Fu's gaze shift to Tang. The phone was lying half stuck between the sofa seats and hence hadn't been visible unless one was specifically looking for it. The slow moving towards it was taking too much time and she knew that Fu could turn towards her any second now.

Whether it was the adrenaline or the futility of their situation, she told herself that they won't be able to extract themselves out of it unless they gave it their all. By now Wei should have been here by all counts but since he hadn't, it was time to rely on whatever resources they had with them. She decided to take a risk and lean her body towards it instead and grabbed it with her teeth. Righting her body up, she twisted fully and dropped the phone behind her back. It landed with a soft thud on the cushion, which went unnoticed under Fu's ongoing rant. She was just in time to sit back in her original position because Fu spun unexpectedly to look at her.

From the corner of her eye, she could see Tang trying to give her the glare for undertaking such a risk. She tried to get a feel of the phone through her near numb fingers and sought the ringer button first. Much to her relief, it was already on mute. Now the trick was to figure out who to call and ensure that the call has gone through. She needed to turn around one more time and for that she needed Fu's attention away from her. She looked at Tang and hoped that her look was enough to communicate what he needed to do.

He gave an almost imperceptible nod. It was as if in this moment, they were completely in sync.

No words needed.

He knew that her pulse was beating wildly under those layers of clothes. He could see it in the whiteness around her mouth. Her mole was standing out starkly against her pale skin. Which is why he had deliberately forced himself to stay visibly calm. His top most priority was to keep her safe from this madman, whatever it takes.

"F*** you Fu. I have had enough of you feeling sorry for yourself and I am sick of being blamed by everyone for…" Tang started talking aggressively, diverting his attention back towards himself.

Jia Li tried to make most of the opportunity and twisted as much as she could to look at the display and dial Wei. In the past, he was always quick to take her call, no matter the time and she prayed that today was no different. Thanking her stars for possessing a flexible body, she turned around.

At the outskirts of Moganshan, 6:50p.m.

"Finally…do you know that I am going to skin you alive for causing me so much worry. Why have you not been taking my call till now?" Wei started speaking the minute Jia Li's number flashed on his screen.

He frowned listening to Tang's raised voice instead of Jia Li's and wondered if the call had been connected to him by mistake. About to disconnect and call again, he froze upon hearing the other voice.

Outside Jia Li's house, 6:50p.m.

Mei Zhen had waited enough. She was going to go inside the house now. Her fear of her involvement being exposed was now overcome by the worry for Tang's well-being.

Inside the house, 6:50p.m.

Jia Li sighed in relief when she realised that the call had gone through. She turned around quickly enough but thankfully Fu's attention was still on Tang's words. She hadn't been paying much attention to what he was saying up until now but listening to him speak now, she realised something which had been lurking at the back of her mind for the past few minutes.

She forgot all about Fu and the situation in that moment.

"How can he talk about my marriage and his cowardice unless…he has regained his memory," she thought.

Moganshan, 6:52p.m.

Wei borrowed the cab driver's phone and called Ethan right away. He didn't want to get disconnected from Jia Li's call. Collecting his thoughts, he explained everything that he had gathered in the past couple of minutes, to Ethan. Ethan promised to get the police and proceed cautiously towards Jia Li's house right away.